Two Sigma Securities LLC Purchases 44,937 Shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Two Sigma Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 181.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,668 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 44,937 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC's holdings in The GEO Group were worth $1,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GEO. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 149.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group in the third quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 182.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,148 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on GEO shares. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of The GEO Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jones Trading restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

The GEO Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of GEO stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.34. 2,589,592 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,806,246. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $27.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.67. The GEO Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.75 and a 12-month high of $36.46. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.62, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.08). The GEO Group had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $607.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $607.45 million. On average, analysts expect that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,024,070. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

The GEO Group Profile

The GEO Group, Inc NYSE: GEO engages in ownership, leasing, and management of secure facilities, processing centers, and community-based reentry facilities in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The company also provides secure facility management services, including the provision of security, administrative, rehabilitation, education, and food services; reentry services, such as temporary housing, programming, employment assistance, and other services; electronic monitoring and supervision services; and transportation services; as well as designs, constructs, and finances new facilities through projects.